GUEST COLUMNIST: City officials work hard to deny right to petition government
Our city government hates petitions. It will do anything it can, legal or not, to stop this traditional means for citizens to vote on laws. Realize, petitions alone never change anything — they only let us vote. But people power can trump politician power; that’s why the city fears its use.
Petitions were protected by England’s Magna Carta in 1215. Our 1776 Declaration of Independence listed King George III’s disregard of petitions as a prime reason to revolt. In 1791, the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights specifically guaranteed the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So do our Colorado Constitution and City Charter. Though you may be annoyed when asked to sign a petition, this right is fundamental to freedom.
This right is for every citizen, even those you dislike. Answering an idea with the politics of personal destruction is inexcusable. Last fall, signs warned, “Stop Doug Bruce from destroying our city.” The city and its special interest pals distracted 54 percent of voters from the merits of ending the stormwater “fee” (tax) we had never approved. Instead, I became the boogeyman. Do you still wonder why most people refuse to take part in politics?
Here’s a small summary of recent city misconduct regarding petitions:
• The city canceled an election on a petition with enough clerk-certified signatures.
• The Court of Appeals has twice ordered the city to stop delaying our petitions.
• The city refused its legal duty to set a petition title, forcing us to return to court.
• The city made us cut our three-sentence enterprise petition to two sentences.
• The city clerk gave us legally defective petition forms, which would have voided any signatures collected. She was forced by law to redo all 800 forms.
• The city refused to mail petition election notices last fall, though the law requires it.
• The city just invented new legal hurdles, based on the petition subject, even though court rulings forbid blocking petitions because government disputes their content.
• Three other pro-taxpayer petitions are still stuck in court by city stonewalling. The longer the city delays an election, the more revenue it collects.
• This spring, the city stalled delivery of our petition forms for six weeks under its new procedure. The city clerk then stated a phony filing “deadline” that gave us only 83 days, not the 180 days allowed by law. On Aug. 3, she announced we had “failed” to meet her invented, illegal, impossible date, saying she could no longer verify signatures for November. She wanted voters to think the petition was “dead.”
• The clerk then created a new, secret Aug. 20 “deadline” without telling me. She falsely said I had agreed to it and she might still have verified entries in time, had I only filed by that date. After filing our signatures on August 25, our entries were approved in four days, just as the El Paso County clerk and I stated was feasible. The city acted fast only to avoid political heat for special election costs.
• After this petition began, police twice changed their written policy. New bulletins said First Amendment rights would no longer be honored. “Protecting” private property was not their goal either, since police don’t apply their new policy at privately owned malls. Police issued court citations two days after The Gazette reported phony city budget threats to reduce police officers. Yes, our petition affects city revenue. Connect the dots.
Fifty years ago, black citizens sat at Southern lunch counters, trying to order food. They, too, were on privately owned public access property. They, too, were arrested for “trespass” by police misusing public power to promote private prejudices. Those victims of official oppression won their struggle with passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Our case is stronger. The Constitution does not guarantee a right to buy sandwiches; it does expressly guarantee the right to petition. Both the Colorado and U.S. Supreme Courts have long protected the right to petition outside public access stores. Our conduct was peaceful and not disruptive, despite false claims by those who dislike our petition. Photos and dozens of witnesses will prove it.
The French philosopher Voltaire said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Tell the City Council to stop its war on petitions. Even if you oppose our petition to end the stormwater tax, do not tolerate the city’s civil rights violations. Your rights may be next.
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Bruce wrote the “Right to Vote” petition on the November ballot. The Web site for the issue is
www.CityReforms.com.
